Father
by Obvious Ghost
Summary: The first time he heard the joke, he didn't understand. (The second time, he did.)
1. Five

The first time he heard the joke, he didn't understand. An older kid, sneering down at him, laughing with his friends. Something about priests and little boys. When they mentioned Shiro by name, though, Rin knew something was wrong.

He didn't know what the kid said next- it had some words he'd never heard before- but it made the others laugh, and besides, he could barely hear the punchline over his angry thoughts.

He punched the kid in the face.

By the time the teacher showed up, Rin was sobbing, huddled against the wall, not looking at the other kids. "D-don't talk about him! Don't talk about Shiro!"

...

He tried to ask Yukio first. For some reason, he didn't want to talk to Shiro right away.

His brother blinked expectantly, adjusting his glasses. "Well, Rin? What's wrong?"

He tensed up. Something in his mind- nervous, uncomfortable, and even a little scared- told him that this was a bad thing. "Uh, nothing," he said quickly. He dashed out of his brother's room, running headlong into Shiro's leg as the priest walked the hall.

The man's face broke out into a smile. "Rin, it's good to see you." The expression changed when he saw Rin's face. "Huh? Are you alright?"

Rin sniffed. "Somebody said... they said you were doing bad things."

"What?"

He shook his head. "I don't know! They said boys shouldn't stay with priests, I don't know, they looked angry, but they were laughing, and-"

Shiro knelt down, hugging Rin fiercely. "Oh, Rin," he said quietly. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"I punched him," Rin said, voice muffled in Shiro's sleeve. "That was bad, right?"

Shiro half-smiled. "Don't worry about that now." He gently pushed the boy away, holding him at arm's length. "Look at me, Rin. There are... some men who got into a lot of trouble."

"What kinda trouble?"

The man sighed. "They hurt people. What you heard was true- some priests did very bad things."

Blinking, Rin tilted his head. "You don't do bad stuff, though, right?"

"Right." Shiro ruffled the boy's hair, smiling again. "You don't need to worry about those stories, okay?"

He looked up hesitantly. "Okay," he mumbled. "Sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, Rin," Shiro said. "You did nothing wrong."

For a moment, Rin was quiet, but a frown broke out. "I did hit that kid, though."

"...Well, yes."

[]

Someone pointed out to me recently- isn't it amazing that Blue Exorcist had no qualms about having a priest adopt young children? And then they made him one of the best characters I've ever seen, and only in a few episodes.

More of a tribute than anything. I loved this show, but I know I won't have enough time (or knowledge of the story and characters, for that matter) to write a more complex story.


	2. Fifteen

"What, you didn't hear? Okumura's been stayin' with that priest, ever since he was a little kid. An' you know what they say about-"

...

...

...

Shiro sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead. "...Dammit, Rin."

A rubber ball soared up, then bounced off the ceiling and fell back into Rin's hand.

"Will you at least tell me what happened?"

Up, and down again. "None'a your business."

"Like hell it's not." Shiro crossed his arms. "You could have been in real trouble, Rin. Jail wasn't out of the question. Do you understand that? Does that even register in your mind?"

Lying on his bed, he paused to catch the ball before answering. "I'm not sorry."

Shiro's eye twitched. "Don't be an idiot," he said forcefully. "You _know_ you can't keep getting into fights like this. _And don't say it wasn't a fight since they both went down with one punch, because that's not what I mean_," he added quickly.

Rin scowled at the ceiling. "Get outta my room."

"You do this on purpose, don't you?" The priest threw his hands up, shaking his head in amazement. "I swear, Rin, you'll be the death of me one day. Why does trouble follow you the way it does?"

The ball flew upwards again.

A beat of stillness passed, and the toy fell once more. "...Look. Just- just tell me why you hit them. Please."

"What do you care, old man?" Rin sat up, glaring. "It doesn't matter, alright? Forget about it."

"It..." Shiro trailed off, staring at him. "Listen to me. If you don't hear anything else I say, hear this. What you do, what you say, the way you treat people, it-" his voice shook, and he stopped. "It _matters, _child. Don't ever think it doesn't."

He move towards the doorway, placing his hand on the frame. A voice made him pause. "Wait."

Rin opened his mouth, as if he was about to say something. He looked down at the ball in his hand, then coughed. "They just called me a loser. Lost my temper. No big deal."

"Really?" Shiro stepped back into the room, an incredulous expression on his face. "I've heard people say much worse to you, Rin. I highly doubt that-"

Something in his look shifted, almost too small to notice. Rin's head snapped up. "What?" he said quickly.

Blinking, Shiro turned away. "Nothing. I, uh-" An uncomfortable silence filled the gap, and he struggled to find his words. "It must be difficult, dealing with people like that. I want you to know that I understand."

Face red, Rin fell back onto the mattress. "Whatever," he grumbled. "Just leave me alone already."

He sighed again, but nodded and left the room. Rin tossed the ball above his head.

[]

I'll admit, I wasn't expecting another chapter to worm its way out of this one. But a review pointed out a pretty cool idea, so here we are.


End file.
